3:33 am
Dolores (Lane) Turk
Information provided by Dolores:
I was not able to finish high school in Port Lavaca as my daughter, Sherry, was born on the day of the Junior-Senior Prom and of course, back in those days, a girl was not able to finish school if she was expecting a baby.
My husband was in the Air Force, and we averaged moving every thirteen months or so. From Port O'Connor we went to Austin, Texas, then to Cold Lake, Alberta, Canada, and then to Bossier City, La., then Roswell, N.M. From there we went to Newfoundland, Canada, then to Portsmith, N.H. After that, we were on our way to Hickham A.F.B. Hawaii, then to Naha A.F.B. Okinawa, and then to Chicopee, Massachusetts. I enjoyed every place we lived.
In the meantime, I did finish high school and go to college.
After Jim retired we came back to Texas. We lived in Houston. Jim worked at the Post Office and I sold Real Estate.
After two years in Houston, we moved back to Port O'Connor where Jim opened the Beachcomber Restaurant, and I opened the Beachcomber Shell Shop. We both enjoyed our businesses and made a lot of friends. That is one great thing about Port O'Connor. Your customers were also your friends.
My parents were always the most important part of my life. After we moved back to Port O'Connor I took my Mom on a trip every Spring. Big Bend was her favorite place. We took several trips to Florida, Georgia, North and South Dakota, New Mexico, and Tennessee. The trips that we took together were some of the happiest days of my life.
We sold the Shell Shop and Jim and I traveled the US for a couple of years, seeing all the States except Alaska and all of Canada except Prince Edward Island.
Then in 2007, a car ran a Stop 🛑 Sign and knocked our car into an 18-Wheeler. I was in the Hospital for three months and have been in a wheelchair ever since. My husband's health was also bad after that.
We enjoyed every minute of the time we had together. We took three cruises but just to Mexico and South America.
Jim was a people person so he opened a small Shell Shop so that he could visit with people. He loved to tell people the history of Port O'Connor and all kinds of stories about the different Sea Shells. At least life was never dull.
Jim passed away on September 25, 2017. He had grown up in Thompson's Oil Field and went to Lamar Consolidated High School in Rosenberg, Texas. That was back in the days when Fort Bend County only had one High School for the whole County.